


Can You Feel My Heart?

by Heart_Seoul_Soshi



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 00:05:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13512576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heart_Seoul_Soshi/pseuds/Heart_Seoul_Soshi
Summary: Graduation. A time of change, and celebration. Marveling in the miracle of one door closing and another one opening. Taking big steps, turning the page of life and starting down the road of a brand new adventure. Evie's decided to give herself a graduation present, the one gift in all the world that would make her journey from Auradon Prep to the real world complete. She's decided to ask Mal to marry her.





	Can You Feel My Heart?

**Author's Note:**

> from an anonymous request on tumblr

Evie knocked on the door. The first time was a no-go, her hand was shaking so badly, so she tried a second time, with better luck. There was Audrey's face when the door swung open, surprised to see Evie standing there but welcoming nonetheless.  
  
"...Evie? Hi," she said, an easy smile on her face.  
  
"Hi," Evie said back. Her smile wasn't quite as easy, almost as shaky as her hand had been. "Are you busy? I was hoping I could talk to you."  
  
The edgy look was entirely out of place on Evie. It caught Audrey's eye like a cry for help would catch her ears.  
  
"Not busy at all. Come on in."  
  
She stepped aside to let Evie into the room, where the girl looked urgently around the dorm before the door was even closed.  
  
"Is Jane here?" Evie asked.  
  
"No, she's out. Why?"  
  
"No reason, it's just you I want to talk to. I have something that I really want—actually, really  _need_  to keep between us."  
  
This really was not anything remotely like the Evie that Audrey was used to. Audrey's eyes were curious and cautious as she sat herself down on the foot of her bed, ready to listen. She gestured for Evie to have a seat at the desk, but Evie apparently needed to be on her feet.  
  
"Okay, what's going on?" Audrey began.  
  
"...Well, as you know, graduation is just a month and a half away."  
  
"I'm aware, yes," Audrey nodded.  
  
"And since it's such a special occasion, I wanted to do something special for Mal. She's always the one surprising me; my birthday, our anniversary, holidays, she somehow always manages to outdo me."  
  
Audrey chuckled.  
  
"Who would've thought?"  
  
The laughter relaxed Evie just the slightest, Audrey could see the tension in her body ebb away.  
  
"I know, right?" Evie agreed with a little giggle of her own. "But this time, I want to outdo  _her._  And I thought with graduation coming up, this was the perfect chance for a big, grand gesture."  
  
"What did you have in mind?" Audrey asked.  
  
Evie closed her eyes. Took a very deep breath before opening them again.  
  
"...Asking her to marry me?"  
  
It was a good thing the dorm had soft, plush carpeting. Audrey's jaw dropped straight to the floor.  
  
_"What??"_ she blurted, jumping to her feet with wide, shocked eyes.  
  
"But this isn't just me trying to one-up Mal!"  
  
Evie started talking quickly, her words tumbling past her lips in a nervous rush like she only had this one brief chance to get them out.  
  
"We've been together for three years, and we've known each other for longer than that. I know we're only eighteen, and this could have 'Bad Idea' written all over it, but she's  _Mal._  She's  _my_  Mal. She's my everything, Audrey, the one person and the one thing in my whole life that I've ever really been sure of. I can't imagine my life without her, and I don't want to imagine it without her. So, yes, I know that her and I are young...but I came to Auradon Prep with my best friend. If I can leave Auradon Prep with my fiancée, then all my dreams will have come true."  
  
Audrey had actual tears in her eyes.  
  
"Oh, Evie..." she quietly whispered.  
  
"Will you help me? Help me plan the most perfect proposal?"  
  
"Of course I will!! This is amazing!"  
  
Evie breathed an incredible sigh of relief, finally collapsing into the chair at the desk like she'd run a marathon and could stand no longer.  
  
"Remember, this is just between us," she reminded Audrey. "I haven't even told Jay and Carlos, there's no way they could keep a straight face around Mal if they knew."  
  
"You're absolutely right," Audrey nodded firmly. "Just you and me. When do you want to start?"  
  
"...As soon as my heart stops racing," Evie brought a hand to her chest, heartbeat thudding with the realization that she'd announced out loud her wish to marry Mal.  
  
Audrey stifled a laugh at the wide-eyed expression on Evie's face that was something akin to low-grade panic.  
  
"How about we just save it for later, then?" she suggested.  
  
"Good idea," Evie's nod was distracted. "...Oh my gosh."  
  
"Can't believe you're actually going to ask her to marry you?" Audrey smirked.  
  
"It sounded so much simpler when it was just in my head."  
  
"Evie, you don't have anything to worry about. She's your Mal, just like you said. Any way you decide to propose will be the perfect fairytale ending for her."  
  
"I need a ring," Evie suddenly realized.  
  
"That would help, yes," Audrey walked over to the desk to rest a hand on Evie's shoulder. "Seriously, just relax. There's plenty of time to sort everything out. Just go back to your dorm room and be with Mal for the rest of the afternoon."  
  
Evie shook herself out of it just a bit.  
  
"...Audrey, thank you so much," she gratefully said.  
  
Audrey brushed off the thanks, more than ecstatic to help.  
  
"Hey, from one princess to another, you definitely came to the right girl."  
  
Evie just couldn't leave without giving her a big hug, and after doing so she did indeed return to her dorm, heart still fluttering in her chest.  
  
"...Mal!"  
  
Her girlfriend hadn't been there when Evie left the room, so opening the door to find her was the most wonderful of surprises.  
  
"E, there you are," Mal's smile shone like she hadn't seen Evie in days, and the hug she crossed the room to greet her with was warm and cozy.  
  
Evie held her close, felt her in her arms like it was the first and last time she would ever do so...yes, this was the girl she wanted to marry.  
  
"Your heart is racing," Mal murmured. She could feel it.  
  
"Because I'm here with you."  
  
Mal reached up to kiss her, a beautifully soft thing that started on her cheek before moving to her lips.  
  
"So where were you?" Mal asked. "I missed you."  
  
"In the few minutes that you were in here without me?" Evie laughed.  
  
"It was a few minutes too long."  
  
"You are hopeless, M."  
  
Evie started to explain, but Mal was only half-listening, tracing senseless patterns on Evie's blouse, right over her heart.  
  
"I went to go talk to Audrey. I cannot wait to see what our ceremony after graduation is going to be like. I thought that with Audrey being valedictorian, she might know, but it turns out she's just as in the dark as the rest of us."  
  
"Baby, that's the whole point," Mal laughed. "Our ceremony is supposed to be a surprise, something special from Fairy Godmother and the rest of the staff. And if I remember right, you like surprises."  
  
"Only when they involve you."  
  
"Then you're gonna love this one."  
  
The smile Evie had been wearing faltered briefly.  
  
"What did you do now?" she asked.  
  
"Why do you have to say it like that?" Mal proudly flashed a smug grin. "Can't a girl just forget about her homework and plan an evening with her girlfriend?"  
  
Evie crossed her arms.  
  
"Just because we only have a month and a half left of being seniors, doesn't mean you can skip out on homework," she lightly scolded.  
  
"Well, you see, it was either homework, or dinner at that very upper-class restaurant in the city that's nearly impossible to get reservations at."  
  
Evie's eyes went wide.  
  
"...You didn't."  
  
Mal's smug grin said otherwise.  
  
"Mal!! But you...you hate those kinds of places!" Evie didn't know what to focus on first; the fact that Mal had gotten reservations or the fact that Mal had  _gotten_  reservations.  
  
"But you love those kinds of places. And seeing as I love  _you_..."  
  
"Mal, how did you even—"  
  
Mal raised a hand and stopped her right there.  
  
"When you're friends with the king, you earn yourself a few favors every now and then," she explained.  
  
Evie, shellshocked, took Mal's hands in her own, twined their fingers tight.  
  
"M, did you really do this for us?"  
  
"I did," Mal gave one short, proud nod. "So clear your schedule, we have dinner in three hours."  
  
That restaurant really was a jewel, a thing that made Ben on a casual day look like a homeless bum. Often frequented by royalty from Auradon and beyond, only the finest dress was permitted, only the most upstanding of manners. Mal's living nightmare. You couldn't pay the girl to put herself through torture like that. So when Evie was meant to be getting dressed, she was really sneaking away to cut a path back to Audrey's room while Mal was tucked inside the bathroom fixing up her hair.  
  
"Hello again," Audrey greeted, having already guessed who it was after the rather urgent nature of the knock on her door.  
  
Jane still hadn't returned, Evie was grateful for that, so she bustled right in and waited until the door was shut tightly behind her before she started to talk.  
  
"Mal is taking me to that ridiculously upscale restaurant in the city for dinner today," she said in one big rush.  
  
"What??" Audrey couldn't believe it herself. "...Wow, go Mal."  
  
"But it's so unlike her, and so sudden," Evie fretted. "Audrey, you don't think she's going to propose to  _me_  tonight, do you?"  
  
"Oh, no, I'm sure that's not it," Audrey assured her. "Like you said, it's not like Mal, I'm sure she wouldn't be so out of character for such a big moment. She just wants to treat you to something special, that's all."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, Evie, it's fine."  
  
Evie breathed a sigh of relief like she'd been holding it for hours. It was rather short-lived.  
  
"But what if??" she bounced right back to worry. "What if Mal and I are on the same page and at some point she really does ask me to marry her before I can ask her?"  
  
Audrey frowned.  
  
"Evie, it's not a contest. If Mal proposes to you first then you still end up getting to marry your best friend in the whole wide world."  
  
"I know, I know, it's just..." Evie wrung her hands, gathering her thoughts. "...I want to be the one to do this. I told you, it's always Mal treating me like a princess, always her being thoughtful and romantic. She knows how much she means to me, but I really need to show it. I want to see the look on her face when she turns around and sees me with a ring in my hands."  
  
Audrey's smile was warm.  
  
"Hey, don't worry. You and Mal are so perfect together that this will all go just as perfectly," she promised.  
  
"You really think so?"  
  
"Yes. Absolutely. Now, since you're here, why don't you shop my own personal collection for some killer jewelry to wear to the restaurant?" Audrey suggested.  
  
Evie's face lit up with a bright, shining glow.  
  
"Thank you, Audrey!!" 

 

* * *

 Evie's phone buzzing on her nightstand jolted her awake, but Mal stayed sound asleep. The split-second flash of wide-eyed alertness faded with a wave of drowsiness washing over Evie, and the most tired of sighs escaped her. She was tangled up in Mal's arms and legs, and had to carefully maneuver herself to lean over and make a grab for her phone without waking Mal.

"...Hello?" she softly murmured, eyes closed.  
  
"Rise and shine Evie, we have ring shopping to do," Audrey was wide-awake, voice determined.  
  
"We're doing that on Saturday," Evie yawned.  
  
"It is Saturday."  
  
"...It is? Then why did I agree to Saturday? Saturday is for sleeping in," how Evie wanted nothing more right now than to stay tucked in Mal's arms. "We can't make it Saturday afternoon?"  
  
"Jewelry waits for no woman."  
  
Evie groaned, absentmindedly running the fingers of her free hand through Mal's messy hair.   
  
"Okay, I'll get ready. Bye."  
  
They hung up, and with another careful reach Evie set her phone back on the nightstand.  
  
She wondered if she could get up without disturbing Mal, but after a minute or so of trying to gently wriggle herself loose, her girlfriend's hold suddenly tightened around her.  
  
"Don't want you to leave..." Mal might as well have been talking in her sleep, she was only half-awake to begin with.  
  
Evie smiled at the sound of her morning voice. A voice she'd be more than happy to wake up to for the rest of her life.  
  
"I don't want to leave either, but I made plans with Audrey," Evie explained, unsure if the words were actually registering in Mal's head, unsure if her groggy mind was Open for Business yet.  
  
"Why."  
  
The word was flat, Mal couldn't expend the effort or energy to form it into a question.  
  
"Just to go shopping," Evie answered.  
  
She tried again to sit up, knowing Audrey was waiting, but Mal pressed her face to the crook of her neck and placed a soft morning kiss there.  
  
"I love you, Evie," Mal whispered.  
  
Four little words made Evie feel so warm, like golden sunlight had come to glitter down on her and her alone. She couldn't wait to make Mal feel that same warmth with a ring and four little words of her own.  
  
"And I love you too, Mal."  
  
"Stay here with me," the girl pleaded, her nose brushing almost ticklishly along Evie's jawline.  
  
"M, you know I want to, but it's Audrey we're talking about. You can't keep royalty waiting."  
  
"Mm-mm," Mal at least agreed to that.  
  
So Evie eventually managed to get up and out of bed, with Mal burrowing deep into the pillow after she left to feel her warmth, smell the scent of her shampoo. Evie made the shower quick, could practically see Audrey impatiently tapping a foot in her mind's eye. And when she returned to the bedroom in a cute indigo dress and slightly damp hair loose around her shoulders, Mal had managed to fight herself into a sitting position in bed, still a little dazed with sleep as half-open eyes stared blankly at the covers. Evie came over to the bedside, tucking her fingers under Mal's chin and tilting her head up for a kiss.  
  
"Bye, Mal," she said sweetly.  
  
"Bye."  
  
"I'll be back before you know it. We'll cuddle up in our pajamas and have a movie day."  
  
Mal flopped backwards onto the pillow and pulled the covers tight.  
  
"In the meantime, I'll just go back to sleep and dream about you," she murmured.  
  
Evie smiled, lightly brushing Mal's hair out of her face.  
  
"Whatever you want, M."  
  
Then she left, going to Audrey's room to announce her presence before the two of them walked together through the halls.   
  
"You didn't tell Jane where we're going, did you?" Evie fretted.  
  
"I haven't even told my diary where we're going. Evie, don't worry, I know how to keep a secret."  
  
They made their way to the parking lot behind the school, where Audrey's early graduation present of a brand new car sat and waited. The girls climbed inside, buckled up, and were on their way. Audrey glanced over at Evie in the passenger's seat as she drove down the road leading away from school. Her friend's stare was fixed rather firmly out the window, a little unblinking.  
  
"You okay?" Audrey wondered.  
  
"Oh, sure. Just on my way to buy Mal's engagement ring, that's all," Evie answered with a sharp intake of breath.  
  
Audrey couldn't help but smile to herself.  
  
"The shop has some really beautiful pieces. You'll find the perfect ring," she promised.  
  
"I always knew saving some money from the clothing line was a good idea, I just never realized I'd be saving it for this," Evie took another deep breath like they were hard to come by. "I shouldn't be scared, right? This is Mal we're talking about. I should be ready and confident about planning this proposal, shouldn't I?"  
  
"It's an extremely big step, you have every right to be scared," Audrey said simply.  
  
Evie's anxiety found a release in nervous laughter.  
  
"Then I'm definitely scared."  
  
"It's not like she's going to say no," Audrey shrugged behind the wheel.  
  
"But what if she's not ready?"  
  
"You know Mal inside and out. If you really thought she might not be ready then you wouldn't even be planning to ask right now."  
  
It made sense to Evie. She nodded to herself, vying for reassurance. Mental pep-talks died in the water though when they met the city and arrived at the jewelry store. Audrey cut the engine, unbuckled her seatbelt, suddenly felt Evie's hand on her arm.  
  
"Audrey, wait, what if someone recognizes me??"  
  
The burden of fashion fame.  
  
"I can't have word that I was at a ring store getting back to Mal!"  
  
"It won't, and if it did, you can say you were shopping for yourself. Honestly Evie, breathe a little."  
  
Audrey waved her off, locking the car behind her and strutting inside the store with Evie in tow. It was Audrey who was recognized, and sales clerks swarmed. Only when she deferred the attention to Evie did they come to her aid, a bit overwhelming as they poured on inquiring questions and jewelry terminology that even an experienced fashionista such as Evie was a little in the dark on. Mother never really taught her the finer points of jewelry, Evie was always meant to be on the receiving end of an engagement ring, not the giving end. It was Audrey to the rescue, swooping in like a knight in shining armor to lead Evie away by the arm and insisting to the clerks that she have some time to simply browse first.  
  
"That isn't what I sound like when girls come to me with dress commissions, is it?" a frazzled Evie asked.  
  
"Not at all," Audrey smoothly said. "Come on, let's just look at the displays."  
  
She'd been right, there was a gorgeous selection, and quite a few rings caught Evie's eye. A triple band of white gold, and a glittering one carat diamond mounted neatly in the center. A ring twisting like an elegant braid, lined with gems all the way around to meet a larger pear-shaped diamond in the middle. And a particularly striking ring of both diamond and sapphire, Evie's signature blue staring right back at her from within the case. All beautiful, and stunning, but none of them truly said "Mal".  
  
"Perhaps the lady would like to design her own engagement ring?" one of the calmer and not-overwhelming assistants suggested.  
  
"Yeah, Evie, come on. You can pick everything out for yourself; the gemstone, the shape, the band, all of it," arm in arm, Audrey pulled Evie over to the counter, sitting her down on a soft and cushy stool.  
  
The clerk helpfully laid out a booklet for Evie, full of pictures and descriptions of every conceivable choice she would ever want to make for the perfect ring.  
  
"Just pick out what you want here, and on the computer they can get you a preview of what the ring will look like," Audrey explained.  
  
Choosing the diamond shape was easy enough; a princess cut. Nothing else would do for Evie's own princess, the one she dearly hoped to make her queen.  
  
"You want the sapphires, don't you?" Audrey smirked. "Accented alongside the diamond."  
  
"...No," Evie shook her head. "I want amethyst."  
  
The sales clerk smiled brightly.  
  
"We can do amethyst."  
  
Evie thought of the ring she saw in the case, the braided band, and decided she wanted the same for Mal's ring. It was the two of them to a T, two girls brought together by a twist of fate, their lives now twined together around one another forever.  
  
Forever.  
  
A word that had never once frightened Evie when it came to Mal.  
  
Lines of smaller stones along the braids would give the ring that extra beauty without turning too over-the-top, and Evie's heart skipped several beats when the computer screen at the counter was turned around to show her the ring. It was Audrey who gasped first, bringing her hand to her mouth.  
  
"Evie..."  
  
That was it. That was Mal's ring.  
  
Evie was told she could expect it made and delivered within a month, enough time for her to have it by graduation. Audrey even arranged to have it delivered to herself at the school, not chancing Mal stumbling in on the ring while Evie was away.  
  
Evie was virtually humming with excitement and thrill when she stepped out of the jewelry store. Audrey felt the same.  
  
"Evie, this is amazing, oh my gosh," she was almost bouncing on her feet.  
  
"I can't believe it, I can't believe Mal has her ring!" Evie laughed giddily.   
  
"She is going to _love_ it."  
  
Evie nodded excitedly, and then checked the time on her phone. Just a little past noon.  
  
"Did you want to get back to Mal?" Audrey asked.  
  
"Yeah, actually," Evie smiled shyly. "I promised her a pajama date."  
  
Audrey understood, and was more than happy to end the day there. Evie felt light as a feather, floating on air as they made the drive back to Auradon Prep. When they returned to the school, Audrey pulled into the exact same parking spot she left from, and they were home. She barely even had her keys out of the ignition before Evie threw her arms around her in a big hug.  
  
"I couldn't have done this without you, Audrey. Thank you  _so_  much," Evie softly said.  
  
"As long as I'm the first one to hear about Mal's reaction when you pull out the ring, consider us even."  
  
"It's a deal."  
  
Evie walked into her dorm room and found Mal on the bed, skipping out on her chance to finish some homework to draw instead, her sketchbook propped up on her knees.  
  
"You're back," Mal's smile was like sunshine.  
  
"I missed you too much," Evie smiled right back.  
  
She let her purse drop to the floor and climbed up on the bed, playfully crawling between Mal's knees to meet her with a kiss. Mal cupped a hand to Evie's cheek, bringing her in for a second kiss, and a third. After they'd said their silent hellos, Mal gladly tossed her sketchbook aside to let Evie settle into her lap.  
  
"You went shopping in the city and came back with nothing?" Mal said in surprise, noting the extreme lack of bags.   
  
"More like browsing, really," Evie smoothly lied. "Looked at some clothes, some shoes, a few different shades of makeup. Audrey definitely out-shopped me, even if something did catch my eye I'm sure she would've gotten to it before I did."  
  
"Sounds about right."  
  
"I noticed you changed out of your pajamas. Does that mean you're taking a raincheck on our movies?"  
  
"You're insane," Mal said right away. "Give me sixty seconds."  
  
She bolted into the bathroom where her pajamas from that morning hung on the back of the door, leaving Evie to settle back against the headboard in her absence.  
  
They pulled the curtains closed against the daylight, drew back the bedsheets, Evie changed into a soft satin nightgown, and they put the first movie into the DVD player. Mal's head found its way to Evie's shoulder, one of its favorite spots. Likewise, Evie's hand found Mal's, lacing their fingers together. Evie couldn't imagine a better way to wile away an afternoon. Overcome with a moment of curiosity, she lifted Mal's hand in her own, watching it instead of the movie—imagining what the ring would look like.  
  
"What are you doing?" Mal asked.  
  
"You should let me paint your nails," Evie blithely covered her own tracks.  
  
"Hot pink," Mal joked.  
  
"Yeah right."  
  
Evie brought Mal's hand to her lips, kissed it softly.  
  
Absolutely couldn't wait to slip the ring on her finger.  

 

* * *

The edgy scratching of pencil against paper filled the air of Audrey and Jane's dorm room. Jane was out, running school errands for her mother as per usual. The scratching came from Audrey at the desk, roughing out her valedictorian speech, and Evie reclined on Audrey's bed, roughing out her proposal in a blue notebook. Audrey set her pencil down, taking a brief break at a particularly trying sentence, and listened to the sounds of Evie's writing behind her. She sighed heavily, looked over her shoulder.

"I really don't think you should write this out," she said warningly, tryingly, worn a tad thin from already having this conversation. "When you propose to Mal it should be from the heart, spontaneous, right then and there."  
  
"I'm only brainstorming," Evie glanced at Audrey over the top of the notebook. "It's not like I'm going to stand in front of the mirror rehearsing for the next month. I'm not going to be a robot when I ask Mal to marry me, I just want  _some_  idea of what I should say."  
  
"Such as?"  
  
Evie turned pink in the cheeks, held the notebook a little higher to hide her face from Audrey's eyes.  
  
"I don't want to tell you," she murmured.  
  
"Fine, don't tell me," Audrey turned back around, studied the words on her piece of paper.  
  
"...Do you really want to hear?"  
  
"I'm curious, yes."  
  
"It's really not anything...I'm really not even writing down anything to say, just thoughts and ideas, and my feelings for Mal."  
  
Audrey couldn't take the dancing around it. She didn't have intentions to pry, but her two friends were soon-to-be engaged, she needed the scoop before anyone else.  
  
"Like??" she urged.  
  
"...Like how deep down, and in some way, I've always loved Mal. Like my first day of school back on The Isle, she practically came to swear vengeance on me for accidentally sitting in her seat, but she was this beautiful girl with a  _beautiful_  spark. Fire and power in her eyes, fearlessness in her voice."  
  
Evie wasn't even reading off the page, she was merely staring out across the dorm room, eyes unfocused, reliving.  
  
"She was all that, and then so much more. Not as fearless as she seemed, actually really vulnerable, and...never truly afraid to show that vulnerability around me. Not exactly thrilled to, either, but..." Evie laughed softly to herself. "Mal trusted me with her heart. And before she ever even gave me a reason to, I somehow knew I could trust her with mine. There were rough patches, yes, but even from that very first day of school...I've always loved everything Mal was."  
  
It took Audrey a second to zone back in, to pull her mind out of that school on The Isle where Evie's words very much made her feel like she herself had stood there and watched the two meet for the very first time.  
  
"...See?" Audrey quietly said. "Just like that. When you propose to Mal, speak from the heart just like that. Don't write it down."  
  
Evie ducked her head, hiding the shy and sheepish smile that touched her red cheeks.  
  
The door swung open. Both girls jumped.  
  
"Jane!!" they blurted at the same time.  
  
Evie snapped the notebook shut, clutched it tightly to her chest. One hand on the doorknob, Jane shuffled into her bedroom with a confused smile, perplexed at the jumpy behavior.  
  
"Hey guys," she warily greeted.  
  
Bright bright red was Evie's face, suddenly overcome with paranoid thoughts that Jane might possess super hearing that extended past closed doors and out into hallways.  
  
"Back already?" as sensible as Audrey was, she couldn't help stave away the exact same paranoid thoughts. If Jane and her non-existent super hearing heard the two of them talking about Evie's proposal, they were toast.  
  
"I just came to grab a jacket," Jane said, slowly stepping into the room and cutting a cautious path to the closet. "What are you doing here, Evie?"  
  
"Homework. Homework help," Evie nervously answered. "Um, when your girlfriend is an artist, she really isn't that good at math."  
  
"And when you're valedictorian you turn out to be very good at math," Audrey quickly added. "Evie just stopped by for a little tutoring. We still have a month of school left, after all."  
  
Something was clearly up, Jane knew the jitters when she saw them. But she didn't have the time or the means to question it, lightly tugging her jacket free from its hanger. With a wave and perplexed thoughts, she was gone.  
  
As luck, or coincidence, or fate would have it, she ended up passing Mal on the ground floor, seeing the girl just coming back from dinner in the dining hall.  
  
"Hi Mal. Where's Evie? Didn't she go to dinner with you?" Jane felt a little odd, having to quiz Mal on her knowledge of Evie's whereabouts.  
  
"Oh, no, she's with Audrey in your guys' dorm."  
  
"To do homework?"  
  
Mal shrugged, an easygoing smile on her lips.  
  
"She didn't say for what."  
  
Jane of course knew better than to think or assume the wildest, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she had missed out on something. And yet, Mal wasn't bothered. Jane supposed she had no right or reason to be bothered either.  
  
Mal was tucked in bed  _actually_ doing homework when Evie came back, bundled under the covers with a textbook and a study guide for one of her finals.  
  
"Where's your notebook?" Mal asked.  
  
Left behind in Audrey's room, where Mal would never be able to see it. Not that she would snoop, and not that Evie had written "My Proposal" in big red letters across the cover, but Evie wasn't going to take any chances.  
  
"Audrey has it. It was my math notebook, she’s going to check over my work," Evie silently praised her clever brain for firing out these excuses on the fly.  
  
She slipped her shoes off, ready to change into pajamas and cozy up in bed with Mal.  
  
"The year's really winding down," Mal sighed. "I can't believe we're graduating."  
  
"I know. But isn't it exciting?"  
  
"It's terrifying," Mal didn't mince words, always able to bare her feelings around Evie.  
  
Terrifying. Just like asking your best friend to marry you.  
  
"Yeah, it is terrifying," Evie agreed. "But change can be good. You and I are proof of that. I'm just...I'm so happy to be graduating with you."  
  
Slowly, Mal leaned over, setting her school things on her nightstand. She held her arms out to Evie, who climbed up onto the bed and fell into her embrace. Mal held her, dotting soft kisses over her forehead, her cheeks, her temples, her closed eyelids. Evie imagined she could feel Mal's heartbeat against her own, pressed close the way they were.  
  
"I'm happy to be graduating with you too, Evie," Mal said. "Everything we do will always be together."  
  
Now almost seemed as good a time as any. It was there on Evie's lips, a feather-soft "Marry me" just waiting, begging to be whispered in Mal's ear. But Evie beat it back, those words would only be said in the perfect moment, not just a good one.  
  
"Together," she said instead. "Because I'm your girl."  
  
"And I'm your girl. That's how I'm going to stay."  
  
_Forever,_ Evie thought, Evie hoped.  
  
She had a best friend, a girlfriend. She couldn't wait to have a wife. 

 

* * *

"A carriage ride??" Evie gasped.

Audrey brought a finger to her lips, signaling for Evie to keep her voice low as they walked down the crowded staircase at the end of the schoolday.   
  
"An  _enchanted_  carriage ride, to make it even better. Jane knows it all, she's been helping her mom make the arrangements for weeks," Audrey said.  
  
"I thought our graduation surprise was supposed to be a secret?"  
  
"And I'm her best friend, a secret's safe with me."  
  
"Except for when you tell it to me."  
  
"Fine, then it's on a need-to-know basis, and you need to know."  
  
When they hit the bottom of the staircase, Audrey took Evie by the arm and led her to a little alcove in the hallway.  
  
"So, after commencement, we have time to change out of our caps and gowns, and the carriages will be waiting outside the front of the school," Audrey started to explain. "Fairy Godmother does her bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, and voila, magically running carriages. It's a ride through the city, and then a fireworks show."  
  
"A fireworks show??" Evie whispered.  
  
Audrey smiled.  
  
"Give you any ideas?"  
  
Evie nodded fervently.  
  
"Yes, it does," she eagerly said. "I need your help."  
  
"You have it. We'll meet in the garden behind the school later."  
  
"Jane's planning to stay in tonight, huh?" Evie laughed.  
  
"Not planning, but I don't want to risk it," Audrey laughed along with her.  
  
"Risk what?"  
  
Evie jumped at the sound of Mal's voice, and the sight of Mal peeking in on them, her sketchbook and textbook tucked under her arm.  
  
"Mal!!" she said, her voice a bit too high-pitched.  
  
"...What's with the hide and seek?" Mal giggled.  
  
"We're just talking about graduation," Evie composed herself and greeted Mal with a kiss.  
  
"Speaking of graduation, when are rehearsals?" Mal wondered.  
  
"This weekend, after finals," Audrey told her.  
  
"Too late for me to come up with an excuse to skip out, huh?" Mal only partially joked.  
  
"Babe, you can't skip out on graduation practice," Evie chuckled.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Well, for one thing, I'll be there."  
  
"...True," Mal smiled slyly, slipping an arm around Evie's waist. "So E, join me for ice cream?"  
  
For a moment, a brief fraction of a second, Evie's eyes flicked to Audrey, as if unwilling to go. Just a quick flash, the shortest of instants, but still Mal caught sight of it.  
  
"Of course, M."  
  
"...Okay," Mal said, unaware if that was reluctance in Evie's tone or not. "Then I'll drop my stuff off in our room and meet you outside."  
  
Another kiss, and then Mal left them alone.  
  
"...Wow, that was close," Evie sighed. "Alright, if we're going to talk about Mal and I, then from now on it needs to be in secret."  
  
"Like out in the garden."  
  
"Like out in the garden," Evie agreed. "Okay, I have a date. I'll see you later."  
  
Evie was admittedly distracted at the ice cream parlor. Her mind raced, her excitement pulsed, thoughts of carriage rides and fireworks and proposals dancing through her head. She was impatient to get back to school, impatient to tell Audrey all about it.  
  
"...What's wrong?" Mal asked.  
  
"Hm? Nothing's wrong, M. I just can't stop thinking about graduation, that's all...it's really hard to believe that soon we won't be at Auradon Prep anymore."  
  
Mal pondered that, quietly thoughtful as she scooped up some of her sundae and fed a bite to Evie.  
  
"...Yeah. Hard to believe. Auradon Prep was our first real home," Mal muttered, casting her eyes down.  
  
Evie wasn't about to be the one to put a damper on Mal's mood. Smiling, she reached across the table and squeezed her hand.  
  
"Hey, anywhere we're together—that's home for us," she said.  
  
Mal squeezed back.  
  
"You're right. Why don't we make a pit stop before we head back to the school?"  
  
"Oh, you know I'd love to, but I actually have to meet with Audrey," Evie gave an apologetic smile.  
  
"...With Audrey."  
  
"Just for a little while. But we can totally have that pit stop afterwards!"  
  
"No, that's okay. We'll just save it for some other time," Mal mustered up a tiny smile of her own. "We'll have all the time in the world soon."  
  
"That's right, we will."  
  
Evie felt that maybe Mal had read her a little  _too_  well, for their ice cream date seemed to cut short a bit sooner than either of them expected. They returned to Auradon Prep, and Evie headed right out to find Audrey, who she'd texted earlier and told she was on her way. Audrey was already out in the garden, sitting in front of the hedges on one of the cushy wicker patio chairs.  
  
"Hi!" Evie greeted her as she hurried over and had a seat in the chair across from Audrey.  
  
It was the perfect setting, dinner was on in the dining hall and the girls were the only two outside, not a single other student in sight.  
  
"Hi. So spill, I've been waiting. What are you going to do for Mal?" Audrey impatiently demanded.  
  
"Oh Audrey, it's going to be so perfect, but I'm definitely going to need help," Evie clasped her hands together. "Alright, so, after graduation there's the carriage ride through the city. What if, instead of the city, Mal and I went the scenic forest route?"  
  
Audrey gasped.  
  
"A nighttime ride through the forest?" she breathed in amazement. "With moonlight, and fireflies, and crickets singing??"  
  
"Yes!" Evie nodded excitedly. "And we watch the fireworks show from a hilltop, with Auradon stretched out below us and the city lights twinkling, and then when the fireworks are over...I ask Mal to marry me."  
  
Audrey's hand was over her mouth, stifling another gasp.  
  
"Evie, that's perfect."  
  
"...Isn't it?" Evie shyly grinned. "I need you to help me arrange the carriage ride."  
  
"Hm...we might have to let Fairy Godmother in on the plan."  
  
"You think so?" Evie fretted.  
  
"We don't have to let her know that you're going to propose to Mal, we can just ask if she'll turn a special treat into an extra special treat for one of Auradon Prep's star couples," Audrey said. "I mean, before she was ever headmistress, her job was making wishes come true."  
  
"I really hope she'll help," Evie's features turned nervously unsure.  
  
"I can't see her saying no. Why don't we go talk to her right now?"  
  
Evie took a deep breath, nodding slowly.  
  
"Okay, let's go," she agreed, worried things might not go her way.  
  
Audrey and Evie stood up, and Audrey could tell at a glance that her friend was a bundle of nerves seeing the most magical evening so close yet still so far out of reach.  
  
"It's going to be fine," she reassuringly took Evie's hands in her own. "I've told you before, everything will work out perfectly. You'll have your forest ride, your fireworks, and at the very end of the night, you'll have your fiancée. Say it, Evie."  
  
"...My fiancée," the word slowly unwound Evie's tension.  
  
"Right. So come on, we have a Fairy Godmother in need of a dream come true to grant."  
  
Hand in hand, they started across the lawn together, laughing giddily and smiling all the way.

Hand in hand, they were watched by Mal, gazing out the glass of the building's back doors with her heart sinking low in her chest.

* * *

 When dim morning sunlight roused Evie's eyes open, the first thing she saw was Mal, propped up on one elbow and peering curiously into her face with her head resting in her hand.  
  
"Mal," she murmured sleepily.  
  
"Beautiful," Mal lazily rubbed her hand over Evie's stomach.  
  
Evie giggled at the tickle of it, stretching her arms out above her head.  
  
"Graduation practice is today. Well, more like, graduation practice is in an hour," Mal said. "The buses are already lined up to take us to the cathedral hall."  
  
"That means we have to get up," Evie groaned.  
  
Mal leaned in, kissing up and down Evie's neck. It brought out another round of giggles from Evie.  
  
"What's with you, M?"  
  
Mal stopped, warm green eyes meeting Evie's sleepy brown ones.  
  
"I love you, E. I'm your girl."  
  
Evie reached up, cupping a hand to Mal's cheek.  
  
"And I'm your girl," she said.  
  
"...Yeah?"  
  
"Yes, Mal. Forever."  
  
"...Forever," Mal repeated, a little dully.  
  
Evie frowned.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked.  
  
Mal leaned into Evie's touch, closing her eyes for a second and enjoying it.  
  
"I'm okay. Remember that pit stop I mentioned the other day? How about we make it after rehearsal?"  
  
Evie's eyes sparkled, her face brightened.  
  
"Okay," she happily agreed. "Do I get to know what it is?"  
  
"Not until we get there. You like surprises when they involve me, remember?"  
  
"I remember."  
  
It was with reluctance that they both got out of bed, showering and dressing as quickly as they could to get down to the buses. It wasn't the same hall that saw Ben's coronation and his rise to king, but being Auradon, there was no shortage of cathedrals to hold a graduation in. The hall was massive, with ornate carved pillars and elegant high windows dragging Evie's thoughts further into weddings than they already were to begin with.  
  
Mal and Evie were together all the way until they and the rest of the seniors were herded alphabetically into their seats at the front of the cathedral to get the rehearsal underway. Mal spotted Carlos and his visible relief at there being four students in between him and Chad, unable to fight back a chuckle. Evie took her seat and watched Jay and Jane settling in side by side. It was really hitting her, here and now, the reality of their years at Auradon Prep coming to an end with each passing day. Fairy Godmother was there, front and center, with former King Beast and Queen Belle on either side of her. It was simple enough; stand up when your name was called, make the famed graduation walk to your diploma, shake the hands of the headmistress and the royals, walk some more and circle back around to your seat. Easy peasy.  
  
They ran through it once, twice, three times. Three times too many for Mal, who couldn't see why such practice was needed just for walking. Each run-through came with Fairy Godmother pointing out where salutatorian and valedictorian Ben and Audrey would make their speeches, and then it was over. Everyone mingled for a bit, in no rush to return to campus with all the excitement and emotion in the air, but eventually it was back to Auradon Prep with the rest of the day free ahead of them.  
  
Mal and Evie had just barely disembarked the bus when Audrey came in hot from the bus behind them, moving remarkably fast for a girl in heels. She ran right to Evie, clinging to her arm and lightly tugging her away from Mal.  
  
"Evie, come on, you have to come see," she urgently said, walking and talking. "Mal! We'll be right back!"  
  
She had to call that last bit over her shoulder, for she and Evie were already off and running.  
  
"Audrey, what are you doing??" Evie questioned, trying to keep up as she was pulled along.  
  
"I checked my missed calls on the ride back, the jewelry store left a voicemail! The ring is here!"  
  
"Mal's ring is here??" Evie's heart skipped a beat.  
  
In the absence of Audrey, the ring had been delivered to the safe hands of the front office, where the girls almost didn't even break their stride as they raced in, grabbed the package, and raced out. Up in Audrey's room, Evie opened the unassuming cardboard box and dug through layers of bubble wrap to get to the tiny black ring box buried underneath. Both Evie's and Audrey's breath caught at the sight of it, even before it was opened to reveal the ring within. Evie didn't think her trembling fingers could get the box open, but they did. And there it was.  
  
Audrey came up behind her, peering over her shoulder to have a look. The two were awestruck, their eyes sparkled. Evie's teared up as the diamond and amethysts glittered up at her.  
  
"...Mal's a lucky girl," Audrey smiled proudly.  
  
Evie shook her head, slowly, as if moving a great weight.  
  
"...If I get to marry Mal, then I'm the lucky one."  
  
A full-blown onset of crying was interrupted by Jane; Evie and Audrey had forgotten to lock (and possibly barricade) the door in their rush to see the ring. But Evie had reflexes, a leftover of her Isle side, and she snapped the box shut and hid it behind her back so fast that not even she realized she'd done it at first.  
  
"...Whatcha got there?" Jane asked, again very wary of the nervous behavior between the two whenever she walked in.  
  
It was a snug fit, but Evie slyly slipped the box into her back pocket, freeing her hand.  
  
"Me? Nothing," Evie held up both her hands as proof. "Actually, I just stopped by to tell Audrey I'm excited for her speech at graduation."   
  
"You couldn't tell her that downstairs?" Jane laughed.  
  
"Well, I was on my way up here to begin with," Evie shrugged innocently. "But Mal's waiting for me, so I'd better go. Bye guys!"  
  
"Bye," Audrey waved, taking advantage of Jane's distraction to kick the fallen cardboard and bubble wrap under her bed.  
  
"...Bye," Jane said too.  
  
Evie found Mal just outside their dorm room, where Mal handed her a jacket before she started to lead the way.  
  
"What was that about?" Mal asked when they went down the staircase.  
  
"Graduation sales. Audrey just got emailed the deals for all the best stores."  
  
This excessive lying had to be a leftover from Evie's Isle side too.  
  
"So you'll be going out shopping with her again?" Mal guessed.  
  
"Well, it would be nice to shop with Audrey and actually get to shop this time," Evie giggled, calling to mind a previous lie and running with it.  
  
Mal took them outside, all the way around the school to where her purple Vespa sat in the parking lot.  
  
"You're really not going to tell me about this pit stop?" Evie shrugged into her jacket and quickly moved the ring box she carried into one of the roomier jacket pockets.  
  
Mal passed her a helmet, not seeing a thing.  
  
"It's a surprise, E."  
  
Evie loved the Vespa. More specifically, she loved getting to hold on tight to Mal as they rode on the Vespa, arms around Mal's waist and chin on her shoulder. It was such a feeling of freedom, the wind and world breezing past them with the putter of the engine. Just the two of them, with all of Auradon just waiting to be explored—it was Evie's favorite. Not to mention Mal looked pretty darn hot driving the thing, leather jacket and all.  
  
But Evie was confused when their ride drifted to a stop in an unassuming neighborhood of Auradon City, she saw nothing of any particular interest here. And when Mal had her take her hand and close her eyes, she  _really_  saw nothing of any particular interest.  
  
"Mal, what's going on?"  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you? A surprise."  
  
Mal guided her, her fingers laced with Evie's as she carefully helped her girlfriend over the sidewalk curb. Evie listened to the sounds of the street go quiet as they apparently stepped inside a building, though what kind of building she couldn't tell. There seemed to be a twist, a turn, and then some stairs, which Mal had her take her time ascending. Evie was burning to open her eyes, curiosity capturing her in its tight grip. An odd jingling noise, a short creak, and then their footsteps along what felt and sounded like a wood floor. They stopped, and Evie shuddered at the sudden sensation of Mal's lips against the shell of her ear.  
  
"...Open your eyes," she whispered.  
  
Evie did so, and what she saw before her did nothing to alleviate her fierce curiosity. An empty studio with bare white walls, bright and crisp in the sunlight beaming through the curtainless windows.  
  
"Mal? Where are we?" Evie turned, looking around despite there being nothing to look at.  
  
"...Our apartment."  
  
Evie froze.  
  
"Our...our  _what?"_  
  
Mal turned Evie around to face her, looking deep into her eyes.  
  
"E, we're about to graduate. A chapter in our lives is about to close, and we're going to say goodbye to Auradon Prep forever. It was our home, our very first, and it's not going to be easy. But every end just leads to a new beginning, and I want to start this new chapter with you. Like you said, anywhere we're together is home for us. Let's make this our home, Evie."  
  
There was a pause, a long, almost worrying stretch of silence, but then Mal took the hug that practically bowled her over down to the floor as an emphatic "Yes".  
  
"Mal!! This is really ours??"  
  
"It's really ours, as long as you want it."  
  
Evie wanted it more than anything. Well, almost anything. She suddenly saw it all in a brand new light, knowing now that it was hers. The studio apartment wasn't empty and bare, but waiting, waiting for cushy couches and a soft bed, dress racks in the corners and sketchbooks on a coffee table—wedding photos on the walls and bridal bouquets touched by magic sitting eternally in vases of water. Evie was planning for her and Mal to have a life together. Mal had already planned for them to have a home together. They were a perfect match, the two of them, the perfect pair to walk hand in hand down the pages of this new chapter.  
  
"Mal, I want this. Oh my  _gosh,_  do I want this!!" Evie bounced on her feet.  
  
Another almost perfect moment, with Evie suddenly hyperaware of the ring box sitting in her pocket. Almost, but not quite.  
  
"Mal..." she draped her arms over Mal's shoulders, touching her forehead to her girlfriend's. "I love you. And there's nothing I want more than to make this into a new home with you."  
  
Still, almost nothing.  
  
"With me?" Mal repeated, almost like a clarification.  
  
"With you. Everything I do is with you, everything I  _want_ to do is with you. So let's fill this place with furniture, and movie nights, and rainy days, and pancakes for breakfast. I want to live with you, M. I love you so much."  
  
Mal took Evie's face in her hands so very gently but kissed her so very fiercely.  
  
"I love  _you_  so much," she whispered, brushing her words and her lips over Evie's.  
  
This, right here—it was heaven.  
  
But not even in Auradon could heaven last forever.

 

* * *

Two weeks. Fourteen days to graduation. Life went on as usual for the underclassmen, but life for the seniors buzzed with excitement, thrills, and the occasional bout of boredom with finals over and nothing quite left to do anymore. Mal was happy to throw herself back into drawing, senior stuff having monopolized all her time as of late. It was nice to wile away entire hours again with pencil on paper, sketching out the shape of a massive dragon dominating the entire page when Evie breezed by with her purse over her shoulder and her heels in her hand.

"...Where are you going?" Mal asked, eyes still locked on her sketchbook.  
  
"To see Audrey," Evie balanced herself against the door while she put on her shoes.  
  
"How come? Finals are over, you can't possibly need homework help anymore. A genius like you barely needs homework help to begin with."  
  
Evie laughed and smiled at the praise.  
  
"You're right, no homework help today. We're just going shopping," she said.  
  
Shopping.  
  
Mal's heart beat dully like lead in her chest, her sudden grip on her pencil almost threatening to snap it in half. A terrible shiver caught her in its own fierce hold, starting in her hands before reverberating through her whole body, and on shaking legs she brought herself to stand up and face the girl at the door.  
  
"...Evie, all I want is for you to be happy. You know that."  
  
Evie wasn't sure which expression to wear; a smile at the loving words or a frown that they were being said so suddenly in the first place. She supposed the look that settled in on her face was somewhere in between.  
  
"Yes, Mal. I do."  
  
"...And I would never stand in the way of your happiness."  
  
Evie didn't know where all this was coming from, but the grim edge to Mal's voice caught her attention in all the worst ways. As a reflex, she reached up and clutched her purse strap tight in her hand, just needing something to hold on to, to ground her.  
  
"What's this all about?"  
  
Evie noticed the shaking now, her girlfriend's trembling.  
  
"...Mal?"  
  
"...If you can't be happy with me, then you could at least have the decency to end things between us before you go running to someone else."  
  
In Mal's ears, the words tumbled out in a blurted rush, but in Evie's ears, it was like she was hearing in slow motion. Her blood ran like ice, and it took her a moment to thaw herself out, the dead silence hanging between her and Mal like a thick, suffocating blanket.  
  
_"...End_ things between us?? Not happy with you? Mal, what are you talking about??" her voice seemed to raise an octave or two.  
  
The trembling spread its way to Mal's throat, her own voice now just as shaky as the rest of her.  
  
"I'm talking about Audrey."  
  
Evie's ears were ringing, like she'd just been struck with a blow to the head.  
  
"What? ...Mal, there is  _nothing_  going on with Audrey and I!! How could you think that??"  
  
"...You're right, how could I think that? At first, I didn't. I didn't think anything of you spending time with Audrey, of course I didn't. But it's not just spending time with her anymore, it's spending _so much_ time with her."  
  
"That doesn't mean—!!"  
  
"Jane's been talking to me," Mal interrupted. Her eyes started to glisten wetly. "She keeps seeing you together, and walking in on you two in Audrey's dorm, and everytime she does the two of you look  _so_ guilty, like she's caught you in the middle of something."  
  
"M, you don't understand..."  
  
This time, it was Evie who cut her own self off without any interruption from Mal. She couldn't explain, she couldn't tell her that she'd enlisted Audrey's help in planning to propose. She couldn't even lie. That preternatural ability to think up excuses on the fly was failing her at the one moment in time she needed it the very most. And she had nothing.  
  
"No, I understand," Mal wiped her eyes, only to have the tears fill them again just as fast. "Audrey's the princess. She has the castle, the money, the status...everything you've always wanted, everything I could never give you."  
  
"Mal, you know I have never once  _truly_  wanted any of those things!" Evie snapped. "Those were just lies my mother fed me! I told you what I want, back in our apartment. Pancakes, and movie nights, and lazing away rainy days on a couch together. M, you know this!"  
  
Evie was unaware of when she'd crossed the room, unconsciously moving step by step until she was right there in front of Mal. Right there, close enough to see the brilliant jade in her eyes drowning under tears.  
  
"I saw you and Audrey in the garden. Holding hands as you walked away," Mal choked.  
  
Evie's eyes were wide, every molecule inside her charged with disbelief.  
  
"No, believe me, we weren't—"  
  
"The garden was our spot, Evie," Mal whispered. "It was where I sat you down and told you that I felt something for you, something more than just friendship."  
  
"And it was where we had our first kiss..." Evie remembered. "Audrey and I were just talking out there, I swear. And yes, we walked away hand in hand, but we didn't mean anything by it!"  
  
"You said you and Audrey were going shopping today. But Jane told me Audrey has zero plans for the day. So if you weren't going out shopping, what were you really going to do with her?"   
  
Drive around picking out the route for the enchanted carriage to glide along come the night of graduation, but it's not like Evie could say that. Now it was her trembling, her body so ice cold she couldn't tell if it was the chill or the fear making her shake.  
  
"M-Mal, I..." her vision blurred, tears stinging.  
  
"I can't do this, Evie."  
  
No. No no no.  
  
"You can't do...you can't do what? What is that supposed to mean? There is nothing going on between me and Audrey. There would  _never_  be anything going on between me and anyone else!"  
  
"Then what is really happening here?" Mal cried, tears falling down her cheeks.  
  
"You're the love of my life, Mal..." Evie's voice cracked.  
  
"That doesn't answer my question."  
  
Evie couldn't answer her question.  
  
"...You know what's really happening. I love you, and I would never do anything to hurt you. You are the only thing in this world that I want. Mal...please."  
  
When Mal spoke again, it was a wonder Evie even heard her.  
  
"...I'll be in the boys' room."  
  
Raw instinct screamed at Evie to stop her when Mal ghosted past, to hold her and talk to her and help her understand, but she couldn't. She just...couldn't. So Mal walked out. Quietly closed the door behind her.  
  
Left Evie alone with the would-be silence, marred only by the deafening ringing in her ears. 

 

* * *

"She thinks you're cheating on her? With me??" Audrey's voice raised partly in stunned disbelief, partly to hear herself over Evie's crying.

Evie couldn't bring herself to go to Audrey's room after what happened, so she had called Audrey to hers. She hunkered on the bed she and Mal shared, hugging her knees to her chest and fighting off her feelings long enough to get an explanation out. When the shock of just how quickly things spiraled out of control subsided, Audrey heard the tears being shed behind her, the inconsistent combination of soft sniffles and heartbroken sobs.  
  
"Oh, Evie..."   
  
She turned and climbed up next to her on the bed, leaning over to hug her.  
  
"Evie, don't worry. I helped get you into this mess, and I'll help get you out of it. We'll get everything straightened out, Mal will understand."  
  
Like a faucet shut off, a handle creaking to the side, Evie's tears suddenly stopped.  
  
"...No," she said, looking out across the room.  
  
"No what?"  
  
Lost, saddened brown eyes seemed to harden. To narrow.  
  
"...If Mal has so little faith in me then maybe I don't want to marry her after all."  
  
Audrey felt that, like a punch to the chest.  
  
"Evie, you don't mean that," she said firmly, and right away.  
  
"I told her as much of the truth as I could. If she doesn't believe me, if she really thinks that I would do something like this to her—"  
  
"Your emotions are all over the place right now. Yours and Mal's. But don't make the mistake of letting them run you. You want to marry Mal, you know you do. Are you upset with her? Yes. But deep down that doesn't change what's in your heart."  
  
Evie stubbornly frowned, roughly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.  
  
"...Evie, think of it from Mal's point of view," Audrey began, taking a deep, steadying breath. "She's the daughter of Maleficent. She was supposed to be evil, ruthless, with no room for anything in her life except cruelty. And then you came along. You were her light. We all saw that the very moment you villain kids walked through the doors of Auradon Prep. Even after all this time, there's probably still a part of Mal that thinks you are so far out of her league, that she'll never be enough for you. There's a part of her that's still afraid one day you'll wake up and see her as nothing more than the daughter of Maleficent. That's something that's been with her all her life, and it's going to take more than three years to make it go away."  
  
"...I don't want her to feel those things," Evie murmured. "I don't want her thinking there's anything or anyone in the world that would make her my second choice."  
  
"Then you need to stick with the plan, now more than ever," Audrey told her. "Show Mal that you want to live your life with her, that you want Auradon and the entire world to know that she's yours and you're hers. You meet her on that hilltop, under the stars and the moon and the fireworks, and you ask her to marry you. She thinks that you love her in spite of the fact that she's the daughter of Maleficent. You need to prove that you love her  _because_  she's the daughter of Maleficent. Because that's who she is. And you said it yourself, you've always loved everything she was."  
  
"And what if it's not that simple?" Evie sighed, body and mind already exhausted from crying.  
  
"Are you really going to give up your soulmate over a 'what if'?"  
  
It all made a startling amount of sense.  
  
"...Audrey, how do you know to say all these things?"  
  
"I'm a princess. Happy endings are part of my training."  
  
Evie didn't think she'd find herself laughing that day, but the tiniest of giggles escaped her.  
  
"So do you want to go talk to her?" Audrey asked.  
  
"Of course I do. But I don't think she wants to talk to me just yet...and I don't know what else to tell her. I can't spoil the proposal, not when it's so close."  
  
"No, you can't do that, because I've already started shopping for a dress to wear at the wedding."  
  
Another laugh from Evie, another knot of anxiety and fear unwinding within her.  
  
"This is only a rough patch, Evie, just like the ones you said you hit getting to know Mal on The Isle. They don't last. But this? Mal and Evie, Evie and Mal? That  _will_  last. Forever."  
  
"...Forever," Evie whispered.

 

* * *

Less than two weeks. Thirteen days to graduation. Thirteen days of Mal across the room in her own bed, thirteen days of awkwardly mumbled "good mornings" and "good nights" that came without their usual kisses. Neither girl knew what to do, how to navigate the frightening dead zone of not really being broken up but not quite speaking to each other either.

And then, the day came.  
  
Evie delighted in the deep Auradon blue of their graduation gowns, complementing her hair perfectly as it fell without a strand out of place around her shoulders. The gown hung smoothly without a wrinkle over her skirt as she took in her whole ensemble in the tall bedroom mirror, and there she was. A high school graduate.  
  
Mal came out of the bathroom after changing; the Auradon blue went just as nicely with her purple.  
  
"E," Mal secured the cap on top of her head. "I can't remember. Does the tassel go on the left or the right?"  
  
Evie left the mirror, walking over to Mal.  
  
"The right side," she reached out and adjusted it for her. "You move it to the left after you have your diploma."  
  
Mal nodded, committing it to memory.  
  
"Are we ready?" she asked. "The buses are outside."  
  
Evie took a deep breath. Was she ready to graduate, to leave Auradon Prep behind forever and take one giant leap into the unknown? No. Was she ready for night to fall in a matter of hours, to pull out the ring and take another giant leap into the unknown? Also no.  
  
"Ready as we'll ever be," she mustered a smile.  
  
It seemed bigger than cotillion, bigger even than Ben's coronation. The energy in the air, the tingling electricity, it was a magic all its own as the seniors filed into their seats at the head of the cathedral. They watched the pews fill with parents, with royals, teachers, underclassmen, friends. Evie marveled as the evening went on in both a rush and a slow crawl at the same time, excitement racing underneath her skin. Ben made his speech as both king and salutatorian, then it was just as they'd rehearsed, Fairy Godmother proudly calling out names and students one by one making the famous walk to be handed their diplomas. They knew it was all beginning to draw to a close when Audrey was up, delivering her speech.  
  
Mal couldn't deny that even she had fallen under the spell, the magic of graduation and the promise of a whole new life ahead of her. She could see Evie, what with the beginning of the alphabet seated in the very first rows and the later half in the back. Her eyes had been drawn on and off to Evie all night, to the soft blue spiraling out from under her cap. Two weeks ago, she told Evie she couldn't do it. Two weeks later, it was the same story.  
  
She couldn't do it. She couldn't stay upset with her.  
  
This was their night, the night to end all nights. There'd be celebration, and happiness, love and friendship, memories to make. High school graduation only came once, and Mal couldn't let herself miss this chance to revel in it with Evie.   
  
Laughter and cheers swelled in the air when caps were triumphantly thrown into it, and Mal clapped ecstatically right along with everyone else, screaming and cheering into the din. She worried the magic would suddenly cut short on the ride back to Auradon Prep, that reality might settle in and ruin the amazement, but no such thing happened. Mal had lost track of Evie on her way back to the dorm room to change out of her cap and gown; the halls swarmed with revelry and hugs, crowds of now-graduates and their friends.  
  
Fairy Godmother had set them loose at the cathedral, announcing that their senior class graduation present would be waiting after their return to campus. Mal hung her robes neatly back on their hanger, hoping there would be a place for them side-by-side with Evie's in their apartment. Back in her own clothes, her familiar jeans and a beloved purple shirt with holes in the sleeves for her thumbs, she waited and waited to see Evie walking through the door. Mal was going to fight through her lingering hurt so they could start to mend this rift between them, agree to tend to whatever pain and anger they carried so this night could be enjoyed the way it was meant to be enjoyed.  
  
But Evie didn't return.  
  
Commotion outside eventually brought Mal's attention to the window, and she peered out into the lamplit night.  
  
Glittering golden carriages were lined up along the front of the school, horseless, driverless, the Auradon Prep crest carved proudly on the doors.  
  
"No way..."  
  
She joined the others outside, needing no jacket on the comfortable May night. There was Fairy Godmother, guiding everyone into carriages the way she'd done for Cinderella once upon a time, clearly back in her element with a beaming smile on her face with each door that shut and each carriage that magically started on its way. Jane was there, helping, as was Audrey. But still no Evie.  
  
"Here, Mal, this one is yours," Audrey softly told her as she drew near.  
  
It was a hilarious thought, the fact that the misfit girl from The Isle would one day come to have carriage doors opened for her by a princess of Auradon. Climbing inside and having a seat was like sitting on a cloud, the plush satin interior absolutely fit for royalty.  
  
"Do I have to be back by midnight?" Mal joked.  
  
Audrey's smile was warm and genuine, her eyes twinkling like the stars overhead.  
  
"There's no curfew for you tonight, Mal."  
  
The princess closed the door, and with a gentle lurch, the carriage was on its way, wheels turning underneath. As she passed, Mal noticed others piling in by threes, by fours, and all she could do was wish that Evie was here with her.  
  
Especially through the forest, where fireflies seemed to light the way through the tangled canopy, the beams of moonlight touching the undergrowth. A gorgeous sight, mystical and enchanting, but one that couldn't be fully enjoyed when one was all alone. Mal sighed, resting her chin in her hand and gazing out the carriage windows. She'd just have to take Evie here herself one day. They'd just have to work things out.  
  
It was hard to tell when the forest fell away, time seemed to stop within it, but fall away it did. The wheels churned to a stop on a grassy hill, the forest behind and Auradon out in front, stretching below Mal on the horizon when she stepped out of the carriage to have a better look. It was the sort of place Queen Belle would run through back in her youth, singing about adventure in the great wide somewhere. A contented hum escaped Mal, and she sat down among the soft grass, finding such peace in seeing the entire city spread out before her. Kind of fitting, in a way. Auradon glittered along with the stars in the sky, and she was just far enough away that only the sounds of the forest touched her ears, none of the grating drum and roar of a city to ruin this for her.  
  
"...It's beautiful, isn't it?"  
  
Mal's heart skipped a beat as Evie appeared as if from nowhere, coming up behind Mal and standing over her, hands tucked daintily behind her back. She was such a vision in a blue dress, one of her old tiaras sitting pretty in her hair.  
  
"I've seen things even more beautiful," Mal said.  
  
Evie sat down beside her, joining her in looking out over the city. It was like it was all theirs, two queens on their thrones, gazing out at their kingdom.  
  
"...Well, we did it," Evie smiled shyly.  
  
"We did it," Mal nodded. "High school graduates. Everything is different now."  
  
"It feels different," Evie agreed. "It's like I can feel it in the air. It's exciting, though...a whole new world."  
  
Mal's eyes were done being fascinated with the skyline, choosing instead to be fascinated with Evie.  
  
"E, I'm...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for accusing you of having something with Audrey and I'm sorry for letting this go on so long."  
  
"Mal, don't apologize," Evie shook her head. "You don't have to, I understand why you felt hurt. I  _had_ been spending a lot of time with Audrey, and...we  _did_ have a secret."  
  
Mal looked startled at the admission.  
  
"The secret was this," Evie gestured to the forest, the grass swaying around them in the softest of spring breezes. "The carriage ride was supposed to be through the city, Mal. Everyone else is down there, but Audrey helped me arrange for you and I to be up here, just the two of us."  
  
Mal's eyes widened.  
  
"Why would you do that?" she wondered.  
  
"Because I love you, silly," Evie chuckled. "And this is our graduation, the start of our new life. I wanted it to start off perfect, and I wanted us to be together."  
  
Mal took Evie's hand in her own, lacing their fingers together. It had been too long.  
  
"Forever," Mal said.  
  
Evie's heart started to race, her breath caught for a second.  _Forever._  
  
No turning back now.  
  
"...Mal, I could never have asked for a more perfect partner in crime. Something inside me knew you were meant to be mine from that very first moment you walked into class at Dragon Hall, and that something inside me was absolutely right. You've been my everything. First the antagonist to my story, and then my friend, my best friend, my girlfriend, my  _whole world._ For the past three years of my life it wasn't Auradon that made me the happiest, luckiest girl in all the lands, it was you. And now here we are, with Auradon Prep behind us and the entire kingdom waiting out in front of us. We can do anything and be anything we want here. This life is ours, M. And I am so, so sure that you're the one I want to share it with, now and forever. I just...Mal, I only have one question."  
  
Mal didn't even have time to worry about the tears suddenly in Evie's eyes, for her own were drawn down, at Evie lightly tugging her hand free to hold a tiny black box between her fingers. Where had that come from? What was it? The answer had to be obvious, but time was standing still again for Mal. She watched Evie open the box in slow-motion, still not truly registering what was happening even when the ring bounced back moon and starlight to glitter up at her. Still not truly registering.  
  
"...Will you marry me?"  
  
And there they were. The four words that had been sitting squarely in Evie's heart and on her lips for the last month and a half, finally flying free. In Mal's mind, the part of it still properly functioning, she had a four-word question all her own:  _"Is this really happening?"_  
  
She blinked. Tried to clear the stars in her eyes away. Thought that all of this might be gone when she looked again, but there was Evie still. Evie, with a ring in her hand and a smile on her face, gleeful tears in her eyes and the promise of nothing but a life of love and happiness shining in her heart. This wasn't a dream, at least not in the literal sense of the word. This was real.  
  
"...Yes. Evie! Yes!!"  
  
_Yes._  
  
"Yes??" Evie never had a smile beam so wide and proud in her entire life.  
  
She repeated Mal's word back to her, she herself now caught with the thought of  _"Is this really happening?"_ but the fierce kiss, Mal's arms thrown around her, the tears rolling down Mal's cheeks—that was her answer.  
  
Both cried, and neither cared. Their tears were joined by laughter, and beautiful smiles. And hearts full of love. Mal's hand trembled until Evie took it, until that ring was finally, _finally_ at home on Mal's finger, and more ecstatic laughter overtook them. Mal sniffed, wiped her eyes, not wanting to lose a single second to blurry vision.  
  
Just a few years ago, she was a rotten Isle kid with no future and no hope. Yesterday, she was a senior. Five minutes ago, she was a graduate. And now, she was engaged.  
  
"Mal," Evie's voice quivered, shook with so many wonderful emotions at once. "Mal, I love you."  
  
Mal couldn't stop herself from kissing her, from cupping Evie's face in her hands and letting her feel the band of the engagement ring on her cheek.  
  
"I love you too, Evie. I love you so much. And now I...now I get to be your girl forever."  
  
Evie loved that smile on Mal's face with all her heart, the big, teary one that shone brighter than any other. She used to know a girl who was all scowls and sneers, and now that same girl, _her_ girl, was all smiles.  
  
A screeching whistle shot up through the air, and before their very eyes the first firework exploded over the city. It bloomed in petals of purple with a loud pop, crackling through the night like lightning. A second followed right after, bursting in a puff of blue and raining down over Auradon. Then they stopped going up one by one, several flying at a time and painting the sky with a medley of colors, shapes, sounds. A veritable garden in the sky, enormous flowers flickering to life for the briefest of seconds to greet the stars and wave to the moon.   
  
The garden was always their spot. A garden on the earth was where Mal and Evie confessed those first scary feelings, where they shared a first wonderful kiss. And now, under a garden in the sky, they made a promise to spend a life together, two hearts as one. Mal and Evie, Evie and Mal.  
  
Mal watched the fireworks show from her ring, the lights and colors flashing dazzling reflections in the diamonds.  
  
It seemed to never end, and both girls wished it wouldn't, but eventually the magnificent blooms petered out, until they were again sailing one by one, and then not at all. The night sky went quiet once more, crickets resumed their chirping in the forest behind the girls.  
  
"...I graduated high school and I got engaged in the same day," Mal marveled at the fact. "I don't think I'm sleeping tonight."  
  
"You're happy, Mal?"  
  
Mal turned herself to lean into Evie, burying her face in the crook of her neck and staying there in Evie's warmth and comfort.  
  
"There isn't a word for what I am," she blissfully murmured. "Evie, you...are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. And I'm never letting you go. We'll wake up in that apartment together, every day, and I'll look at you and remember that I have a home, and a life, and love, and each day will be the best one I've ever had because of it. All because you fell in love with a troublemaking girl from The Isle and asked her to be your wife."  
  
"I didn't fall in love with a troublemaking girl from The Isle," Evie sniffed. "I fell in love with Mal. Mal and everything that she was."  
  
"...Mal and everything that she is can't wait to marry you, Evie," Mal whispered. "I can't wait for movie nights and rainy days and pancakes in a home all our own."  
  
Evie blinked back her tears, fighting to keep them from falling. She did it.  _They_  did it. Her heart, her soul, everything was floating on air. She came to Auradon Prep with her best friend, and she was leaving Auradon Prep with her fiancée. Evie imagined she wouldn't be sleeping tonight either.  
  
"Happily ever after," she said, finding Mal's hand and tracing the shape of the ring with her finger.  
  
"Happily ever after," Mal said too, nodding against Evie.  
  
Twelve years ago, Mal stood at her balcony and watched a little girl's birthday party, scowling jealously at the merriment, at the little girl being all smiles. Twelve years later, that same little girl was all grown up and all smiles for  _her,_ the two of them holding each other close under the starlight with kisses and soft whispers, the promise of forever fitted perfectly on Mal's finger.  
  
Auradon really was full of magic.


End file.
